Driver Rescues Rival From Burning Car After China GT Crash

A serious crash at the China GT Championship in Shanghai over the weekend has sparked criticism of the race’s emergency response after an injured driver said he survived only because a fellow competitor stopped mid-race and pulled him from a burning car.

The crash happened on September 5 during the GT3 race at the Shanghai round of the CHINAGT China Supercar Championship. According to accounts from teams and drivers, cars No. 37 and No. 33 ran off track while battling during the seventh lap, before one of them struck the side fuel-tank area of the No. 91 car driven by British racer Oliver Millroy. The car immediately caught fire.

Millroy later wrote on Instagram that he was “still alive” thanks to Loek Hartog, the driver of the No. 79 car, who stopped at the scene, grabbed a fire extinguisher and helped get him out of the burning vehicle.

“I don’t remember anything between 30 seconds before the crash and one hour after it,” Millroy wrote. “But I will remember his incredible act of bravery for the rest of my life.”

Millroy said he suffered five broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a broken hand and finger, and a bruised lung. He said several surgeries were ahead and that he would need weeks of recovery before he could fly.

Hartog also described the incident on Instagram, saying he saw a car turn into a “huge fireball” and believed the driver might not be able to get out alone.

“There was never a moment of doubt,” Hartog wrote. “It was scary. There were moments where I didn’t know I would actually be able to get Ollie out.” He said he was grateful to have been in the right place at the right moment.

The incident triggered strong criticism from Millroy’s team, FIST AUTO, which accused race organizers of serious failings in emergency response and safety management. The team said race staff had not verified the situation before stating during the livestream that the driver had left the car on his own. In reality, it said, Millroy was rescued by Hartog.

FIST AUTO said the organizers failed to deploy sufficient medical resources quickly and had not issued an official apology to the team or driver. The team announced it would withdraw from all future China GT events until organizers completed a full, independent and public investigation and provided a formal response.

Yang Baijie, driver of the No. 33 car for 610 Racing and one of the drivers involved in the crash, also criticized the response. He claimed on social media that some rescue workers put down fire extinguishers and moved away out of fear, and that an ambulance arrived only 15 minutes later. He also said race officials summoned drivers to arbitration before confirming Millroy’s condition and did not address the speed of the rescue response.

The China GT organizing committee today apologized for the accident and its impact, and sent sympathy to Millroy and other drivers involved. It also thanked Hartog for being the first to reach the scene and assist in the rescue.

The committee said a preliminary review found the event configuration met national-level race standards, but acknowledged that detailed management needed improvement. It said it would conduct a further review and investigation covering race organization, safety support, emergency response, rescue and medical arrangements.